It's not like saying that at all... Australian and Australia just both get shortened to Aussie. Kiwis shorten things with -ie or -sie with the same wild abandon that Aussies in Aussie shorten things with -o (bottle-o etc).

True, true. But only if you speak Strayn. Most Nuzilndrs don't. Thinking more about it last night, I think Australia is the only country new zealanders shorten in this way. It's a term of endearment. Or mockery. One of the two.

Sadly, no way fluent (though my best friend and older sister are - or as much as you can be without living in a French speaking country). All I have are high school classes and a few language dictionaries (for that inevitable moment of panic on discovering I'm spending two weeks in France and can barely count past ten).

I've just come home from a year living in America and was totally perplexed by this term. Yet when I took to Facebook to deride it, much like this pic does, I was told that HEAPS of Australians refer to the country as "Aussie". Pardon? Really? I still think it's bollocks.

I'm in the american military and we always call you guys aussies. Call australia australia but the citizens aussies. We love you guys though we get excited when the pilots visit our bases because you guys LOVE to trade. Patches, flags, coins, shit even uniforms! We get some of the coolest shit from you guys

I got bitten by a drop bear whilst I was too busy telling stupid yanks about hoop snakes and laughing with my mates about how they don't like vegemite and we do. We gave this guy some vegemite and he said "I don't like it" and we were like "WHAT A WORTHLESS IDIOT YANK CUNT" and then I raped and ate his children in front of him, just as a laugh cause we aussies have a good sense of humour that the yanks just don't understand. Then I was telling him about drop bears and he said that in America that had actual bears, and asked me to elaborate on what a drop bear was but I didn't think that far ahead so I just started screaming somehting about Grid-Iron players being faggots for wearing armor then kept telling him about how we have a unique sense of humour. Kokoda.

Trying to expose myself to different people from different places because I am too poor, at the moment, to travel. I also sub to /r/unitedkingdom, /r/ireland, along with a few others. Used to sub to /r/israel but now it has turned into nothing more than a pro Zionism propaganda circle jerk.

"Lickwid never proceeded to tell another joke in his life. He started to vehemently snarl whenever someone else's joke would elicit a humorous response. Going out of his way to put down others with a funny bone. Eventually after a lifetime of contempt and hatred towards the world, he managed to work his way into politics and whittled away the rest of his life trying to pass laws that would outlaw the sharing of jokes in any form of communication or media."

I've been in america three years, and I've never heard it called "aussie". I have heard it called "AH Stooo rarl iiia yaa" only after I explained to them I'm not from "ayngggglaaaand" but never "aussie".